


Sparring

by TomatoBookworm



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Female Friendship, Gen, Minor spoiler for 6x10, Potosi, Set between season 5 and season 6, mention of canon character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 04:22:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21155552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomatoBookworm/pseuds/TomatoBookworm
Summary: In between sparring, Elena and May talk about family and traditions.





	Sparring

**Author's Note:**

> *This work is posted on ArchiveOfOurOwn.org for free. I do not object to personal downloads via ArchiveOfOurOwn. If you are reading it through any other means, please know that you are doing so on an unauthorized site/app. Thank you. 
> 
> Promptober day 23, full moon. Also kind of fills Team Space AoS prompt, Yo-Yo + pre-SHIELD.

The sparring session came to a break. Elena grabbed a clean towel from the gym’s towel rack and wiped her forehead. 

“Your fine motor control is getting better,” May observed.

“Yeah, didn’t knock the whole rack down this time,” Elena said. Drawing and painting took effort, but she didn’t have to slow down every time before she reached for something. Except Mack. She would always be careful with him, but he wasn’t hers to touch anymore. 

May took a towel too. The woman barely broke a sweat. Elena shook her head.

“You are not even out of breath. How do you do that?”

“Practice and pacing. You have to learn to listen to your body.”

“I listen,” Elena said. “And I like to go fast.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” May said. “Just remember to take breaks too.”

“Don’t worry.” Elena slung the towel over her shoulder and took a drink from her water bottle. “I am not down here punching the bag at night because Mack and I broke up.”

“I am not worried about that.” May looked at her directly. “I am saying that as an agent, you need to give yourself time to decompress. We’ve all dealt with a lot in the past year.”

It was an understatement. They all had their traumas. Coulson. Fitz. It was amazing any member of the team was still functioning. Yet here they were. 

“You taking your own advice?” Elena asked. “I heard you are going away for the weekend.”

“Visiting my mother,” May answered.

“Is this your first visit? After…?”

“After Tahiti, yes.” May gave her a slight nod. “Mid Autumn Festival is coming. Supposed to have a family reunion under the full moon. Not that we followed the tradition while my mother was active or since I went into the field, but she asked me to come this year.”

“Your mother loves you.”

“Yes,” May acknowledged. She took a sip of her own water as well. “Have you talked to your family since S.H.I.E.L.D. was legitimized again?”

“Yeah,” Elena said. “Promised my aunt I will see her at Christmas. We used to go to midnight Mass together. My mother. Francisco. All of us back in Potosi.”

“You miss it.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I do,” Elena said. “I don’t just miss Potosi at Christmastime. I miss it the most on my mother’s birthday. Sitting around the table, laughing with everyone, and seeing how happy she was, having all of the family there with her.”

“But you can’t go back,” May said.

“No.” Elena shook her head. “My mother’s gone. Francisco is dead. I tried to take his killer in and the man died before I could put him in jail. There are other evil men in the world though. That’s why I am here. To fight for the people.”

“Even after everything this job took from you?”

“You are still here.”

May nodded and put the towel down. “Another round?”

They went back to sparring. It was good, practicing with a friend. They both knew what they were fighting for. 


End file.
